Michael

A late 1970's 454 from a motor home will require some work to convert it into a performance engine. The block, crank, rods and balancer should be an OK foundation. But the heads are almost certainly "peanut port" (casting number begins with 236) which flow about 235 cfm at max lift. This is fine for a motor home, but not enough to support a level of horsepower commensurate with the whole point of going to a BBC. So, you're looking at heads, cam, valvetrain, intake, carb, and headers. I started out from a similar position - a 454 from a 1978 Chevy Suburban. Spent many, many hours porting my 236 heads - got them up to around 265 cfm, only to learn that my porting job weakened the heads near the valve seat area, so that when the machine shop pressed in new valve seats, one of the heads cracked. That is November 2003. Since then I've been looking for cylinder heads. Oh, and BTW, what are the flow numbers from those Pro Toplines?

Wherever you do end up living, at some minimal level you have to feel like you're a part of the community - otherwise you'll be miserable. I'm not talking about civic activism or joining the local moose lodge. But you do need to consider yourself as having certain basic attributes in common with a large crossection of the local populace. For instance, if you're a born-again Protestant who enjoys hunting, drives a big truck, and smokes a pack of Marlboros every day, you'll be utterly miserable in San Francisco or Boston. I'm miserable where I currently live, because I feel completely alientated from the community. Simply put, my core beliefs are fundamentally inconsistent with the prevaling norms - from politics and religion, to taste in culture, to manner of speech. But I live here because my job is here. Let's see, how many years left until retirement?....

I live 25 miles southeast of Dayton, Ohio, in a rural area. 5 acres, 2800 ft^2 house (well, that's counting the finished walkout basement, which the state considers square footage for property tax purposes!), 4-car garage - worth about $210K. It was worth the same or slightly more when when I bought it in the summer of 2001. Dayton is in decline, caused by a mixture of decline in manufacturing and family farms, failure to adapt to the high-tech economy, endemic racial tensions, and the lack of high-paying jobs. I've heard plenty of rumors about automotive mechanics being out of work (even those with ASE certification), because there's a glut of guys interested in the skilled trades. I moved here about 5 years ago, from Los Angeles. Those people itching to leave California should try moving to the Midwest; a couple of years out here, and you'll be crying to come back! I had no choice - my job transferred me. Anyway, in the 1990's Los Angeles was a tremendous real estate bargain. Prices more than doubled in the past several years, but I don't think it's a bubble - it's a rebound from the late 80's-early 90's decline and 90's stagnation. Of course, the Midwest is a great place if you have school-age children, are socially conservative, prefer a relaxed pace of life and don't mind the brutal winters.

Ditto on the above. Typically, the problem is not only in toe angle, but also in camber. Check the gap between the spring lower perch and the tire, on both sides of the car. There's a good chance that on one side the gap is something like 1/4" larger than on the other. The same problem (camber, not toe) is also commonly found on the front end. And the solution is the same: swap strut housings from another car. In the front, this is very easy (takes maybe an hour per corner). In the rear, it's considerably more work, assuming that you reuse your original control arms. Bottom line - it's a very common problem.

This guy is a tenured professor. Tenure basically means that he can't be fired for any reason, short of being convicted of some crime. The question to ask ourselves is, "what was the faculty committee thinking when they granted this guy tenure?" Now it's too late. The concept of academic freedom would become a joke if professors get fired over expression of their views, even if those views are insulting and distasteful.

At times like this I console myself by reiterating my usual saying: "I'm proud to belong to the half that makes the top half possible". Tim - back when I lived in LA (late 1990's), I saw Opel GT's in similar condition in the Recycler for around $5K.

Project BBZ – congratulations on finally making good on the screen name! The big block is definitely an unusual swap, and not for the faint of heart. A few questions on your choices of parts…. 1. Heads. Why the Pro Topline? Are those rectangular-port? Did you settle on iron heads because no comparable heads were available in aluminum? I have been looking for suitable cylinder heads for my 454 for about 5 years (literally), and the best choice seems to be the AFR 265 cc heads. Unfortunately, they still haven’t entered production, as AFR shifted its attention to the LS1 market right after announcing the BBC heads. The second best choice, for my application, is the Dart aluminum oval-port heads (269cc), but those have disappeared from catalogs. 2. Cam. That’s a very healthy cam for flat-tappet lobes! I’ve been looking at a “low lash†mechanical roller cam with around 0.630 lift, 240 duration at 0.050â€. 3. Intake and carb. Is yours mostly a “street†application? True, it’s a 454 in a 2800 lb car, but for running below 3000 rpm.... Anyway, I have a 750 cfm vacuum-secondary Holley atop a Performer RPM oval-port intake. 4. Oil pan. How deep is that pan? I started out with a 9â€-deep pan, stock for a Chevy Suburban (which is what the engine came out of). It hung slightly below the frame rails, with the engine mounted to the frame rails (not the JTR method). Now I have a 8†deep pan. Anyway, good luck with your swap – sounds like a great project!

Well, here are some further steps.... 1. Limit sales of kerosene, gasoline, and other gas-station hydrocarbons to 10 gallons (for example) per person per week. Otherwise, people might use those chemicals to make bombs, or to commit arson. 2. Limit sales of fertilizer only to those person who can prove that they are farmers. Farmers would have to show a special farmers' license, stating the acreage of the farm. Customers would only be allowed one pound of fertilizer per acre, per month; otherwise the fertilizer might be used to make bombs! 3. You're not allowed to rent a cargo van, unless you can prove to the rental agency that you're actually moving (from one residence to another). Doing so requires a special "relocation license", which is issued at a maximum of once per six months, per person. 4. In an effort to curb obesity, everyone is issued a "fast food ration card" by the Department of Health and Human Services. It has stamps for french fries, hamburgers, etc. To buy food at McDonald's, you have to show them your ration card; with every purchase the stamps are torn off, and if you have no more stamps let, you can't buy any more hamburgers, until the next month. 5. To encourage civic-mindedness and to promote physical exercise, the Department of Labor opens special labor camps. Volunteers report to duty for 8-hours shifts, doing work such as highway construction, digging ditches, repairing sewer lines, etc. Work is unpaid, but for every 8-hour shift you receive an additional fast food ration card.

Also, since you're interested in a Gen VI BBC, keep in mind the differences between the Mark IV (1965-1991) big block and the Gen VI; for example, the flywheel bolt pattern is different. If you do go with a Gen VI, consider the 502 instead of the 454.

This is really, really cool! And such a poke in the eye of the purists! (BMW purists are even more ornery than Datsun purists). I have a 1992 E36 coupe. It truly is an aesthetically beautiful car, but indeed the power (especially the low-end torque) is unpleasantly vapid. I don’t want to jinx my engine by pondering a swap (just yet), but when that puppy finally chews its last bone, and Hans and Fritz will want to charge $8000 for fixing it, it’ll be time for a LS1 swap.

For something like two years now, AFR has been advertising the oval-port cylinder heads for the big-block Chevy, but they still haven't brought them to market. I'm tired of waiting for AFR. The next best choice for my application is the Dart oval-ports, but for some reason the big mail-order houses (Summit, Jegs) don't sell them. And they've disappeared from Dart's own web site. Does anyone who still sells these heads?

Late 80's or early 90's BMW 3-series (325 - stay away from the 318 ). They get around 25 mpg highway (18-20 city). A late 80's E30-series should be under $3000. My 1992 325is was $4600.

Not to change the subject (much), but how's the recoil on that 30-378 Weatherby?

I don't race and I don't know much about suspensions, but I did observe approximately 3/8" of side-to-side motion at the frontmost end of the front tires, as my 280Z was lifted on a hoist (that is, from 100% sprung mass resting on the tires, to 0%). That's approximately 1.8 degrees of toe angle change, per wheel - an amount that sounds excessively large - large enough to warrant corrective action. So, I did the JTR crossmember mod. I have not driven the car since, and can't comment on the relative benefits.

Maybe this is the engine gods' way of saying that now you should go big-block?

What are the odds that the Hemi would ever be available with a manual transmission?

I’m not sure how folks misunderstood my posting, but somehow it happened… (1) of course the lower the Cd, the better (2) Cd of 0.40 was OK in 1970, but today it’s outright horrible. (3) Drag coefficient is only part of the story; cross-sectional area is the other part. The Z is small, so even with a high Cd its overall drag is, well, not as bad as one might think. (4) One source of drag, apart from “bad streamliningâ€, is downforce (or its opposite) (5) Multiple sources confirm that the 240Z’s drag coefficient was around 0.45, give or take.

I would be very, very skeptical of those drag numbers for the Viper. Let me repeat that: very skeptical. It’s true that cars designed for downforce will also generate “induced dragâ€, and that (together with exposed tires) is why F1 cars have apparently high drag coefficients. But few modern passenger cars have Cd above 0.35. And even relatively ordinary sedans are down in the 0.28 range. The Z has an advantage in its small size, and in particular in small cross-sectional area. Recall that drag is drag coefficient times area times dynamic pressure. A small car with high Cd might still have less drag force, at a given speed, than a larger car with a lower Cd. I've seen the 240Z's Cd quoted at around 0.45.

To add to the discussion... Some people believe that guys who haven’t actually successfully built a well-running engine either don’t understand basic engine theory, or can’t make up their minds on what parts to use. That’s like saying that if you’re not street-smart, you can’t be book-smart either. Well, in fact it’s entire possible to have a robust understanding of the internal combustion engine, and nevertheless to still end up with a poorly-idling, fuel-puking, clanking heap that gets 8 mpg and makes 90 hp at the crank. How? Well, start with a 350 V8 core, do everything 100% right on buying correctly-matched parts, get all the tolerances right, assemble everything right, then screw up ignition timing by 20 degrees, and bingo, you’ve got 8 mpg and 90 hp. Or, forget to add oil to that brand new crate engine, and now you’ve got 0 hp. Meanwhile, your neighbor, who thinks turbulent separation is a kind of divorce and natural frequency is a rock band, has a smoothly running engine making 200 hp, because he remembered to add oil and his dad taught him how to set the timing by rotating the distributor while listening to the engine.

Link to "my" page hosted on Pete's site: http://alteredz.com/MichaelOlsBBZ.htm

My '78 280Z, gutted, with sheet metal removed here and there, no bumpers, no dash, and not much of anything except a roll cage, weighed in at 2725 with a 454 with cast-iron heads. This was on race-scales under each tire. Since then I added a 240Z rear bumper, a passenger seat, headlights and some gauges, but removed more sheet metal and gutted the doors. With aluminum heads (big weight savings on BBC's) I'm hoping for 2650 lbs

I’m one of 3 or 4 members on this site who at one time or another had a big block Chevy engine in their Z. As far as I’m aware, my car is the only one to retain the Datsun independent rear suspension; everyone else back-halved their car to fit a solid rear axle and either a 4-link or ladder bars. The guy who did the metalwork on my car mentioned that the pre-fab “tube frames†(Chris Altson, S&W, Jegs, Magnum Force, etc.) DO NOT fit the Z. They’re designed for Pintos and Vegas. My roll cage was built from (mostly) 0.134†DOM mild-steel custom-bent tubing, styled loosely after suggestions in Herb Adams’ book, “Chassis Engineeringâ€. In my case the firewall was relocated aft about 6.25†for improved weight distribution etc. The 6.25†comes from the length of the run of sheet metal forming the unibody in the section between the door hinge mounts and the stock firewall location. Another 2†of setback is possible before the firewall upper lip hits the windshield lower edge. I’m short, so the reduction in cabin room doesn’t bother me. The engine bay is now quite large, with enough room for the engine such that the crank pulley is just behind the steering rack. I’ve seen two other cars where the firewall was relocated aft. One is an E-mod (sp?) road racing car with a Ford 5.0, if I recall correctly. I can’t remember what engine the other one has, but it’s not a BBC. And there are 2 (or more?) cars on this site with C4 Corvette suspension grafted in, with a ladder-frame tying the front and rear ends. But those have SBC’s. The BBC swap does NOT require a full tube frame, but it does require some chassis mods, and would require severe chassis mods to maintain good weight distribution IF you don’t backhalve the car. If you do backhalve the car, firewall relocation is probably not necessary, considering modern tire and suspension technology. Also keep in mind that a “full†cage (with X-bars in the doors and a dash bar), tied into the front and rear strut towers, might look like a jungle-gym of bars but is technically still not necessarily a true tube frame. For instance, in a true tube frame the differential would bolt to hard-points on the frame. Mine is still mounted stock, though the points where the mustache bar clamps are tied into the roll cage. Old (but perhaps still relevant) pictures of my car are hosted on Pete Paraska’s site. Also check the various threads where we debate the question, “is the big block swap really worth itâ€. Bottom line: do it if you’re already an expert on big blocks and love the engine. Don’t do it otherwise.

From personal experience, even the spindle-pin puller can fail. I tried removing the spindle pin from one of my strut assemblies using a 75-ton hydraulic press. It also failed! Lest this result be attributed to my own incompetence, I should mention that I had a machinist and another technician help me. Next I tried drilling the spindle pin out. The drill bit wandered, and even with a 1/2"-diamter hole drilled down the spindle pin, it still would come out. Finally I took the strut to a local machinist. He used a boring-bar on a mill to cut out what remained of the spindle pin. Conventional drilling wouldn’t work, since the drill bit would just follow the off-center hole that I already drilled. The boring-bar worked just fine, except that it cost me $170!

This one really has been debated to death, but the beat goes on... Keep in mind that when doing the V8 swap, the 240 will tend to gain weight when beefing up various components (such as swapping the R180 for the R200). Also, weight removed from the 280 as part of the swap will be larger than weight removed from the 240. So, the weight difference between the two will converge (slightly) as part of the V8 hybrid conversion. While I can’t cite hard data on unibody weight, I’d estimate that a stripped 280Z unibody outweighs a stripped 240Z unibody by around 100 lbs. That can be thought of as the minimum weight different between the two, short of resorting to metal shears and sawz-all.

How about the Centerforce “dual-friction†setup, 11†diameter? I used that between my 454 (with 168-tooth Hayes aluminum flywheel) and my Doug Nash 5-speed, before the engine grenaded. With a McLeod hydraulic throwout bearing and Tilton 3/4" master cylinder (not sure about that dimension, but it sounds right) the pedal throw and pedal force felt reasonable. I plan on recycling all of the above when my engine comes back together again.